Field GuideLos Padres N.F.

San Luis Obispo
Dirt Bike Routes

The Los Padres backcountry east of San Luis Obispo is home to the Pozo and La Panza OHV area: a real green-sticker network of OHV roads and motorcycle singletrack around Hi Mountain and Pozo, plus the long, remote Sierra Madre Ridge for plated adventure riding. (Oceano Dunes, the coastal riding, is state land and isn't covered here.) Many roads and trails close when wet — storm-driven rather than calendar-based, so expect closures during and after winter and spring rains (roughly November–April) until things dry out. Route geometry and elevation come from the Forest Service MVUM and SRTM.

San Luis Obispo, California · Los Padres National Forest · 8 routes

Plated street-legal bikes are fine on every route here. The badges below show where green-sticker (non-street-legal) OHVs are allowed — that's the part that varies, sometimes segment by segment.

Green sticker OK

Non-street-legal (green-sticker) OHVs allowed on the route.

Green sticker: partial

Green-sticker allowed on some segments only — read the note.

Street-legal plate only

Street-legal, plated vehicles only — no green-sticker OHVs.

Access unverified

Couldn't verify green-sticker access — confirm on the MVUM.

Sticker rules & the 2026 e-bike law (SB 586)

Electric bikes are OHVs now: under California's SB 586, off-road electric motorcycles count as OHVs. A Sur-Ron or a race-bred Stark Varg (MX) needs a green sticker, a helmet, and visible ID — and like any green-sticker bike, it's restricted to OHV-designated areas. So they follow the same green-sticker access shown on each route, and they can't be plated.

The exception is the road-going Stark Varg EX: it's fully road-homologated in the US (lights, indicators, foot rear brake), so it registers and plates like a street-legal dual-sport — and can ride every route here, including plate-only roads.

Sticker note: since Jan 1 2025, red and green stickers are treated as equally valid year-round in OHV-designated areas; model-year 2022+ non-compliant gas bikes use the new tan sticker. Always carry current registration and a working spark arrestor.

Where can I ride?

Los Padres National Forest MVUM

Every legal motorized road and trail in the San Luis Obispo area, straight from the Forest Service's Motor Vehicle Use Map. Most numbered roads are open to street-legal plated bikes only — the green routes are the comparatively few where a green-sticker (non-street-legal) bike is allowed. Hover any line for its road number and access.

What can ride here

  • Green-sticker OHV allowed
  • Street-legal plate only
  • Dashed = seasonal access
Loading area map…

Make a day of it

1 suggested loop

Ways to string these routes into a full ride instead of a single road. Mileage is a rough composite — segments overlap and connect — so plan time and fuel with a margin.

Pozo / La Panza OHV Day

~24mi

Green-sticker roads and real singletrack around Hi Mountain and Pozo.

Climb Hi Mountain (30S11), link Rock Front (30S06) and the Queen Bee loop (29S18), and session the Pozo OHV singletrack (16E21) — all green-sticker, the rare southern network with genuine motorcycle singletrack. Closed when wet, so go when it's dried out. For a plated adventure instead, the long, remote Sierra Madre Road (32S13) is the standalone big day — commit to it self-sufficient, there are no bailouts.

Hi Mountain OHV RoadRock Front OHV RoadQueen Bee Loop OHVPozo OHV Singletrack

The Routes

8 rides
GPX Track↑ 1,565 ft↓ 1,460 ft
1,952 ft3,064 ft

Hi Mountain OHV Road

No. 30S11
Green sticker OK
Distance
8.2mi
Difficulty
Difficult

Per the MVUM, 30S11 is designated open to all vehicles, so green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes are allowed. Registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Climb to the Hi Mountain lookout in the heart of the Pozo OHV area.

30S11 is the signature green-sticker road of the Pozo / La Panza OHV area, climbing rocky, high-clearance tread through chaparral and oak toward Hi Mountain and its historic condor lookout. Big Santa Lucia Range views and a genuine OHV-designated route, open seasonally, and a long way from anywhere.

Elevation
1,950–3,050 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Rocky, high-clearance OHV-area dirt
  • Heart of the Pozo OHV area
  • Climbs toward the Hi Mountain condor lookout
  • Designated green-sticker road
GPX Track↑ 1,457 ft↓ 1,558 ft
1,811 ft2,743 ft

Pozo OHV Singletrack

No. 16E21
Green sticker OK
Distance
9.1mi
Difficulty
Difficult

Per the MVUM, trail 16E21 is a designated OHV trail open to motorcycles, so green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes are allowed. Being narrow-gauge singletrack, it's a true OHV trail, not a road. Registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

The longest designated OHV trail in the Pozo singletrack network.

Trail 16E21 is the longest dedicated OHV trail in the Pozo / La Panza area, narrow green-sticker singletrack threading the chaparral and oak well off the OHV roads. The Pozo trail network is the real draw for dirt-bikers here, and this is its centerpiece: technical, remote, and seasonal (closed when wet).

Elevation
1,800–2,750 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Narrow OHV singletrack through chaparral
  • Longest trail in the Pozo singletrack network
  • Narrow, technical green-sticker riding
  • The real draw of the Pozo OHV area
GPX Track↑ 732 ft↓ 610 ft
1,257 ft1,893 ft

Rock Front OHV Road

No. 30S06.1
Green sticker OK
Distance
4.0mi
Difficulty
Moderate

Per the MVUM, 30S06.1 is designated open to all vehicles, so green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes are allowed. Registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Designated green-sticker OHV road through the La Panza chaparral.

30S06 is an open-to-all-vehicles OHV road in the La Panza country, mixing rocky benches and sandy stretches through dense chaparral. A solid intermediate green-sticker ride that links into the surrounding Pozo OHV network, seasonal when wet.

Elevation
1,250–1,900 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Rocky and sandy OHV-area tread
  • Designated green-sticker (open to all vehicles)
  • La Panza chaparral country
  • Connects the Pozo OHV network
GPX Track↑ 486 ft↓ 1,214 ft
1,775 ft2,615 ft

Queen Bee Loop OHV

No. 29S18.1, 29S18.2
Green sticker OK
Distance
4.6mi
Difficulty
Moderate

Per the MVUM, 29S18.1 is designated open to all vehicles, so green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes are allowed. Registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Short green-sticker loop in the Pozo OHV area.

The Queen Bee Loop (29S18) is a compact designated OHV road in the Pozo area, open to all vehicles, with sandy and rocky tread through oak and chaparral. A fun, low-commitment green-sticker loop to add onto a bigger day, open seasonally.

Elevation
1,750–2,600 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Sandy and rocky OHV-area tread
  • Designated green-sticker loop
  • Oak-and-chaparral Pozo country
  • Good add-on to the Hi Mountain ride
GPX Track↑ 505 ft↓ 833 ft
2,589 ft3,054 ft

Old Sierra OHV Road

No. 12N03.1
Green sticker OK
Distance
2.0mi
Difficulty
Moderate

Per the MVUM, 12N03.1 is designated open to all vehicles, so green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes are allowed. Registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Short, rocky green-sticker spur toward the Sierra Madre country.

12N03 (Old Sierra) is a short open-to-all-vehicles OHV road on the approach to the Sierra Madre high country, rocky, high-clearance tread with chaparral and grassland views. A brief green-sticker option best paired with the longer roads nearby; seasonal.

Elevation
2,600–3,050 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Rocky high-clearance OHV-area dirt
  • Designated green-sticker road
  • Sierra Madre approach country
  • Pairs with Sierra Madre Road
GPX Track↑ 1,132 ft↓ 909 ft
1,772 ft2,654 ft

Navajo Road

No. 29S02.1, 29S02.2
Green sticker: partial
Distance
7.8mi
Difficulty
Moderate

Per the MVUM, Navajo Road is mixed: some segments are open to all vehicles (green-sticker OK) and others are highway-legal-only, so access goes segment by segment. Read the signs at each junction; registration + spark arrestor required. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Backcountry road into the Pozo OHV area, green-sticker on part of it.

Navajo Road (29S02) drops into the Pozo / La Panza backcountry, mixing graded stretches with rockier sections through oak woodland. Part of it is designated open to all vehicles and part is highway-legal-only, so green-sticker access is segment-by-segment; read the signs at each junction. Seasonal closures apply.

Elevation
1,750–2,650 ft
Best season
Fall–spring (closed when wet)
Surface
Graded dirt with rocky sections
  • Green-sticker access on part of the road
  • Oak-woodland Pozo backcountry
  • Gateway to the OHV network
GPX Track↑ 5,643 ft↓ 1,522 ft
1,322 ft5,604 ft

Sierra Madre Road

No. 32S13.1
Street-legal plate only
Distance
28.6mi
Difficulty
Difficult

Per the MVUM, 32S13.1 is open to highway-legal vehicles only: plated, street-legal bikes only, no green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes. This route has a seasonal (wet-weather) closure, so confirm it's open before you go.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

The ~28-mile Sierra Madre Ridge, remote plated backcountry.

Sierra Madre Road (32S13) runs the long, remote Sierra Madre Ridge, one of the great backcountry roads in Los Padres, roughly 28 miles of graded-to-rocky ridgeline through grassland and chaparral with enormous, lonely views. Highway-legal-only, so it's a plated adventure-bike ride; gated and seasonal, and genuinely committing, carry everything.

Elevation
1,300–5,600 ft
Best season
Spring–fall (closed when wet)
Surface
Long, remote graded-to-rocky ridge road
  • ~28 miles of remote Sierra Madre Ridge
  • Huge, lonely grassland-and-chaparral views
  • Classic plated backcountry adventure
GPX Track↑ 886 ft↓ 702 ft
1,686 ft1,972 ft

Fernandez Road

No. 28S02.1, 28S02.2
Street-legal plate only
Distance
6.6mi
Difficulty
Moderate

Per the MVUM, 28S02.1 is open to highway-legal vehicles only: plated, street-legal bikes only, no green-sticker (non-street-legal) bikes.

Source: USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), 2026

Quiet plated forest road in the Santa Lucia backcountry.

Fernandez Road (28S02) is a quieter highway-legal-only road through the Santa Lucia backcountry near Pozo, with graded dirt and rocky sections through oak and chaparral. A relaxed plated ride and a way to link the area without the technical or seasonal demands of the OHV roads.

Elevation
1,700–1,950 ft
Best season
Spring–fall
Surface
Graded dirt with rocky sections
  • Quiet Santa Lucia backcountry
  • Oak-and-chaparral scenery
  • Relaxed plated ride